翁公和媛媛在厨房里猛烈进出

Anyway, it wasn\'t like anyone was forcing me to stay at the skill or anything; I was just doing it all out of my own volition.

*DING*

Slowly raising my head as the sound of the bell echoed throughout the classroom, I saw the sliding door slowly open, revealing the familiar figure of Professor Zia.

She had been treating me rather nicely, considering the fact that I had attempted to hurt her favorite student, Liam, on the first day of school, so I had no qualms about her.

As the class descended into silence, Professor Zia slowly walked up to the whiteboard before writing in large letters on the chalkboard.

[Christmas Wonderland]

Sighing, I looked away from the whiteboard at the massive windows to my side.

As the words "best behavior," "recruiting," and "pivotal moment in your life" emerged from Professor Zia\'s mouth, I zoned out even further.

Wasn\'t this just college applications all over again!?

Instead of writing essays and putting down our extracurriculars, we had to show off our combat prowess and good behavior.

Looking next to me, I noticed that both Han and Jin were actually paying attention and... at least trying to take notes on what she said.

Making sure nobody was watching me, I put my head on the desk and covered both my eyes with my elbow.

The next second, I was no longer in the classroom but hovering above another building as a crow.

Flying over to a tree, I perched on one of the branches before shifting my gaze to a nearby building.

Looking down as the crow, I peered into a nearby window, seeing Astrid sitting by her desk, simply working on documents.

"...again?"

For the last three days, all she had done was train, work on documents, eat, and sleep.

Did she give up on the information because of what I said?

...no, Astrid isn\'t the type of person who ignores a warning of danger, no matter how false and stupid it may seem.

Leaving the crow on the tree branch, I returned to my body, instantly having my vision blocked by my elbows.

Removing my elbows, I was shocked to see that the front of the classroom was empty as Professor Zia had disapeared.

Turning to Jin and Han, who had already reverted to their old ways and were using their smartwatch, I asked.

"Where did the professor go?"

Han, looking away from his smartwatch, replied.

"Oh, we didn\'t want to say anything because you were sleeping, but apparently she\'s giving us a free period right now."

"For real?"

Responding to my question, Jin scoffed and replied.

"It\'s just one period, though... we have to be back by the end of lunch. At this point, why doesn\'t she just give us the whole day off?"

Nodding my head in approvement, I waved goodbye to the two boys before getting out of my chair.

Paying attention to gazes I could feel tracking my movement, I walked back down the stairs and exited the classroom.

Having skipped breakfast in the morning, I walked through the hallways, eventually arriving at the first-year cafeteria.

Standing in front of the cafeteria, I almost dropped to the floor upon seeing the massive line already formed.

Interrupting my lampooning, a family sweet and soft voice spoke from behind me.

"Seems like every class got the period off today."

"Really, what makes you say that?"

"Isn\'t it too early in the morning for sarcasm?"

Shaking my head at Ruby\'s question, I replied.

"Sarcasm waits for no one!"

As more footsteps sounded from behind us, Ruby quickly said.

"Well, I would stay, but you must know Liam and Kevin hate your guts right now."

Paying no mind to the smile that, for some reason, was on her face, I replied.

"Doesn\'t matter to me."

Swiftly turning back around, I stepped into the line for the food.

However, Ruby also stepped into the line right behind me.

"Wait... don\'t tell me you\'re jealous?"

"Jealous of what? Did you not see beat the shit out of them!?"

Tapping me on the shoulder, Ruby whispered so that only I could hear.

"They\'re some pretty important and influential people, so if I got on their backside by hanging out with you, my identity could be at risk."

Genuinely surprised, I whispered back.

"You\'re still a villain?"

"...honestly, I don\'t even know at this point...but yeah, technically, I\'m still a squadron leader of the Gemstone Order."

"Just choose a side and stick with it, then."

Stepping back out of the line, Ruby curiously asked.

"So, what side are you then?"

"Try guessing, it\'s a 50/50."

Smirking even further, Ruby replied.

"And what do I get if I guess correct?"

Confident that she wouldn\'t guess it right, I responded.

"I\'ll do anything you say for a day if you get it correct... but if you lose, you have to try and piss off Liam for me."

"...that\'s what you want?"

As I nodded my head at Ruby\'s question, she waved, revealing a large grin on her face, before heading in the direction of footsteps behind us.

...she never guessed?

After waiting an arduous ten minutes in line, I finally grabbed a tray of eggs before heading outside.

Finding a nearby bench, I dropped my backpack on the ground before laying the tray of food on my legs.

Staring at the plate of eggs in front of me, memories of the plate of noodles that Lily had prepared in the Elven realm flashed into my head.

"...I never did get the recipe out of her, did I?"

Well... it\'s probably too late for that now.

Weighing the pager that the Elven queen had given me in my hand, I genuinely considered using it to ask for the recipe.

She did say to ask for help any time, didn\'t she?

"Is this spot taken?"

"...hm?"